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Studying in halls, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Cambridge
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Official Cambridge Postgraduate Applicants 2021 Thread

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Original post by mphilpdn
Oh thanks for your reply! Yeah I’m a little nervous about funding but I’m assuming PDN is just one of the departments that doesn’t notify you if you’ve been nominated. I’m sure your offer will come in soon since you’re already at GAO - mine just came in on Friday so maybe they’re getting the MPhils out of the way first.

Thanks! 😄 I just got an email about an interview for Wolfson Studentship!!! Thank you for information about your timeline. I hope you hear some positive news about funding. Cheers!
Studying in halls, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Cambridge
Hi all, I found out somewhere else that some applications (same program) submitted later than mine have been processed and some people are notified that they have been put in wait, but I still haven't heard anything, I'm just wondering why did this happen? I thought applications are reviewed chronologically?
Original post by Cinnnnabar
Hi all, I found out somewhere else that some applications (same program) submitted later than mine have been processed and some people are notified that they have been put in wait, but I still haven't heard anything, I'm just wondering why did this happen? I thought applications are reviewed chronologically?

Not necessarily. Your application needs to be assessed by an academic in your specific sub-field, and this will be a different person for different applicants. So for example, the academic in charge of medieval history might has been very prolific and powered through all applications by the end of January, while the academic evaluating modern english history (your sub-field for the purposes of my example) was ill with COVID or was battling deadlines and childcare all at once and is lagging behind. Until you hear back, do not really think too much of how other people are doing...
Are the GAO just processing and handing out offers in the order of first in and first to change on the portals? (sorry very oddly phrased)
I'm sure this has been answered before, but does anyone know how long it takes to get an email response after moving to GAO? Been on it for a week now and starting to get nervous...
Original post by StartFire
Not necessarily. Your application needs to be assessed by an academic in your specific sub-field, and this will be a different person for different applicants. So for example, the academic in charge of medieval history might has been very prolific and powered through all applications by the end of January, while the academic evaluating modern english history (your sub-field for the purposes of my example) was ill with COVID or was battling deadlines and childcare all at once and is lagging behind. Until you hear back, do not really think too much of how other people are doing...

Got it, thank you very much for the quick reply.
Original post by histmphil96
For others: Don't submit your financial undertaking form before you know if you are going to be funded or not! It can massively complicate things, colleges can get very testy about it, and some might even preclude you from funding if you've already committed to self-funding!

Why would they preclude you from funding based on academic merit? That would be very strange...
Read somewhere that someone received a conditional offer for a mphil programme that required the applicant to get 85% in their undergraduate degree. Just wondering if anyone had such a high entry requirement? Was pretty surprised since I assumed most offer conditions were 2:1s or 1st at the most.
Original post by queenskye
Why would they preclude you from funding based on academic merit? That would be very strange...

If you apply for college funding (of any sort) but you've submitted your financial declaration, then they will be less likely to give it to you because you've said you'll go whether you get the funding or not. They now can move on to people that truly cannot go without funding.

Not saying it always happens, but it definitely can affect funding applications. Offer holders should really always wait to hear about funding decisions before filling this form out.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by aspiringacademic
Are the GAO just processing and handing out offers in the order of first in and first to change on the portals? (sorry very oddly phrased)

Not always, home students usually hear back quicker than international students, for example.
Original post by blacktie
Who did you contact from the department and how long did they take to respond?

Criminology Graduate Administrator <[email protected]>
They emailed me back less than 24 hours later.
Original post by anerdfrom97
Question to current MPhil students:

I just downloaded my certificate of offer and noticed that it mentions a principal supervisor. What exactly is a principal supervisor? Is this the person who will supervise my dissertation? Or are they more of a mentor? And can this supervisor still be changed?

The reason I am asking is that when I googled my principal supervisor, I noticed that their topic of interest is quite different from the topic I want to specialise in.

Thanks in advance!


Supervisors are very easy to change. They often have a discussion in the first week or so and then review again at Christmas when dissertation plans start to get clearer. It's nothing to worry about.
Original post by histmphil96
Yes, the supervisor is who supervises your dissertation and they cannot be changed except in exceptional circumstances.


Is that your experience in History? In Polis and Arch & Anth they more or less randomly allocated at this stage, talked about it in the first 2 weeks of term and then revised again at Christmas. In both cases I'd say at least 30% of people changed Supervisor.

Having said that, I entirely agree, it often doesn't matter whether your Supervisor is a subject matter expert, indeed it means you are allowed your own ideas and not inclined to be pushed and pulled by someone who knows more than you about the literature etc.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by threeportdrift
Is that your experience in History? In Polis and Arch & Anth they more or less randomly allocated at this stage, talked about it in the first 2 weeks of term and then revised again at Christmas. In both cases I'd say at least 30% of people changed Supervisor.

Oh yes, in History we can only change in extraordinary circumstances (basically, if there are extreme personal issues with the supervisor) as our projects have to be quite defined when we arrive. We are not typically allowed to change our proposals so much that we would need to change supervisors.

Someone had to drop out of the PhD programme last year when they wanted to change their project enough to switch supervisors

Guess I just assumed that was normal. What's your subject, @anerdfrom97?
(edited 2 years ago)
LLM applicants
Just trying to have a look at the bigger picture here, I've been under department review since January and I saw here that at least two other applicants are in the same situation.
Has anyone received an offer, or moved foward to degree committee/GAO? When?
Thank you in advance.
Original post by histmphil96
Oh yes, in History we can only change in extraordinary circumstances (basically, if there are extreme personal issues with the supervisor) as our projects have to be quite defined when we arrive. We are not typically allowed to change our proposals so much that we would need to change supervisors.

Guess I just assumed that was normal. What's your subject, @anerdfrom97?


That's interesting, I always thought History was a mellow department! Changing your subject focus massively is frowned upon at PhD because Supervision is a big commitment and balancing out students to Supervisors is carefully thought out. But I've found it very straightforward in the two depts I've done Masters in.

Sometimes though, it's better to have a Supervisor who works with the methodology you want to work with, even if the subject area is different. And even Supervisors with a tough reputation are often technically the best researcher/writers. So if you are going on to do a PhD it often works out well if you have a fierce and pedantic Masters Supervisor, you come out at the end with a better understanding of research.
Original post by histmphil96
Oh yes, in History we can only change in extraordinary circumstances (basically, if there are extreme personal issues with the supervisor) as our projects have to be quite defined when we arrive. We are not typically allowed to change our proposals so much that we would need to change supervisors.

Someone had to drop out of the PhD programme last year when they wanted to change their project enough to switch supervisors

Guess I just assumed that was normal. What's your subject, @anerdfrom97?

I applied to the MPhil in Population Health Sciences. This MPhil replaces the MPhils in Epidemiology, Public Health, and Primary Care Research, so supervisor allocation is probably similar to how it was done in those programmes.

But it's interesting to know that the supervisor allocation differs between different programmes. In the preliminary schedule, there is mention of a dissertation fair in November. Are there other programmes that also offer such a fair?
Original post by queenskye
Why would it complicate things to put down self-funding? I did the same thing, because I can self-fund in the worst case, however, I am still waiting to hear on Gates and Cambridge Trust. Will I no longer be considered for these scholarships because I put that I am able to self-fund? I assumed that you can declare this and wait and see if there is any update on scholarships (they state in the letter that you should update them if you receive any new awards). A little confused about this?


In that person's case, the problem is that they (a) don't understand the purpose of the conditional offer or the ramifications of the financial declaration form, and (b) are not sure about their fee status classification. The guidance for that form explicitly states:

>If you are in any doubt about whether you have sufficient funds for your fees and living costs you should NOT sign the Financial Undertaking Form.

They are in doubt over their fees and living costs, and so they should not have signed the document at all.

If you have zero doubt over your ability to pay the full cost then I suppose you can sign the form. Most people will leave it until funding comes out though, because otherwise you have to fill it out twice for precisely zero gain. That same guidance document also says:

>You should not complete and submit the form if you are still waiting to secure funding for your course

and

>If you have been able to arrange an alternative source of funding before you receive a decision from the Cambridge Trust, please inform us of this –this will not disadvantage your application to the Cambridge Trust.

So it's not at all clear if declaring yourself self-funded while you wait to hear back about scholarships will disadvantage you overall, but they do explicitly ask you not to do it, and I guess there has to be a reason for that.

Edit: fyi the Gates shortlist has already come out, so if you didn't receive an email about it in recent weeks, you're out of the running. I think they were going to send rejections to non-shortlisted applicants this week or next. And if you already know you're a finalist, congrats and best of luck!
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by queenskye
Why would it complicate things to put down self-funding? I did the same thing, because I can self-fund in the worst case, however, I am still waiting to hear on Gates and Cambridge Trust. Will I no longer be considered for these scholarships because I put that I am able to self-fund? I assumed that you can declare this and wait and see if there is any update on scholarships (they state in the letter that you should update them if you receive any new awards). A little confused about this?


I did the same thing; really wish I hadn't now. I guess I just thought it was important for me to upload all the relevant documentation and meet offer conditions sooner rather than later.
Hi! With regards to funding granted by colleges, do they notify you if you have been nominated? Or only if you get it?

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